PROJECT ATRIUM: AMANDA COOGAN
The Ladder Is Always There
NOVEMBER 26, 2018 - FEBRUARY 24, 2019
In Project Atrium: Amanda Coogan The Ladder Is Always There, internationally renowned Irish performance artist Amanda Coogan, draws inspiration from a variety of sources including art historical references, a poem by Adrienne Rich, and works from MOCA Jacksonville's permanent collection. The curvilinear lines painted onto the atrium walls suggest a seascape or landscape and recall the gestural marks from a ballet costume painted by early Modernist artist Marc Chagall, and likely danced in the Firebird ballet performed by the Ballet Russe. By carefully referencing elements from the dress, weaving rope and fabric into the piece, and incorporating vintage Joseph La Rose shoes (with their Jacksonville heritage), Coogan pairs more traditional markers of theater and costume with her physical performance.
Following the week of Coogan's on-site durational performances during the end of November, the installation continues to function as both a stage and a form of interactive sculpture. In this way, Coogan engages the lineage of performance art and its relationship to theater, dance, art history, gender, and fashion.
PROJECT ATRIUM: AMANDA COOGAN PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Tuesday, November 27 // 11 A.M.// Douglas Anderson School of the Arts
Wednesday, November 28 // 12 P.M. // La Villa School of the Arts
Thursday, November 29 // 1:15 P.M. // University of North Florida
7 P.M. // Phase Eight Theater Co.
Opening Reception: Members' Preview: Friday, November 30 // 7 P.M.
Phase Eight Theater Company
Douglas Anderson School of the Arts
Public Preview: Friday, November 30 // 8 P.M. - 9 P.M.
Thank you to our sponsors
The Brooke and Hap Stein Emerging Artist Prize Fund
Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow
Culture Ireland
Carey and Jackie Cornelius
Anonymous
Special thanks to the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Foundation for their support of collaborative arts education projects and partnership.
ARTIST
AMANDA COOGAN
Critically acclaimed Irish artist, Amanda Coogan, works across media including live art, performance, photography, and video. Many of her performances incorporate sculptural elements such as brightly colored, altered, or painted fabric, drawing on her degree in sculpture from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. Coogan also studied under acclaimed performance artist, Marina Abramović, from 1999-2001. Her oeuvre, including her durational performances engage a cross-disciplinary approach, incorporating drama, theater, fashion, and the body. She has performed and exhibited her work at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, the Neimeyer Centre, Spain, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, and the Van Gogh Museum, among others.
Image courtesy of the artist.